Clan Analogue celebrate 30 Years and the TB-303!

Two events, from 40 years ago and 30 years ago, seemingly unrelated yet completely intertwined, are celebrated in Clan Analogue’s newest compilation release Cognition 303: Bassline Deviations.

In 1982 Roland released a new bass sequencer and synthesizer which manifestly failed in its intended purpose – to replace the bass player.

In 1992 Brendan Palmer and Toby Grime had a chance meeting on a train platform in Sydney, bonding over their shared love of obsolete electronic music instruments, and decided to form an electronic music artists’ collective.

The Roland TB-303 Bass Line machine was a discarded device of the 1980s, forgotten as shiny digital synths became the industry standard of polished pop and stadium rock. However a new generation in the late 80s and early 90s reclaimed these analogue relics from pawn shops and Trading Post adverts, inspired by the new sounds of techno, house and electronic experimentalism. These young artists became the flagbearers for new musical movements which swept through the 1990s. From this era, 30 years ago, Clan Analogue was born, Australia’s longest-running and most influential electronic music collective.

Cognition 303: Bassline Deviations celebrates the 40-year history of the TB-303, its status as the last great iconic instrument of electronic music, and explorations of its newest sonic manifestations. The TB-303 has become one of the most used, modified and cloned instruments in electronic music. For Cognition 303 Clan Analogue artists from across Australia heeded the call to create a new selection of sounds exploring all versions of this instrument and its expanding musical lineage.

Cognition 303 spans the styles associated with the TB-303 and pushes them into new and unexpected directions. Techno superstar Honeysmack collaborates with T-Rek for one of his famed acid techno bangers. Australian dance music pioneer Andy Rantzen teams up with fellow 303 lover Ryan Spinoglio to give us a stripped-back funk exploration using four TB-303s. Composite Cone and Klaps celebrate the famed Robin Whittle 303 Devilfish modification. Vision Four 5 produce an anthemic piece of stadium techno while KOshowKO channels the legendary Charanjit Singh by blending the 303 with non-Western instruments. Suspect and Factorypreset, two halves of the seminal Dark Network, each create a piece of hypnotic ambient acid house groove, just some of the squelchy masterpieces on Cognition 303.

Buy album from Beatport

Download Cognition 303 from Bandcamp for a bonus collection of 14 more Australian 303 tracks from Clan Analogue’s artists, including contributions from Bleepin’ J Squawkins, Ming One and dyLAB.

Tracklist:

1. Swinging Tasty Bag l Junkyard
2. Mechana l Non-Existent
3. Vision Four 5 l Acidulous Broth
4. Ollie Lee l EMU Lotion
5. Composite Cone & Klaps l Untitled Devilfish Acid Track
6. Times of the Sines l Two 303s and a 909
7. Noneohone l Smokey
8. Andy Rantzen & Ryan Spinoglio l No Gluten For Putin
9. Honeysmack & T-Rek l Wet Channel Acid (CA Mix)
10. KOshowKO l The 303rd Babel of Greed
11. Factorypreset l Off the Clock (Drugs Mix)
12. BluNjin l Forest Rez
13. sd_falter l Alt-Tabbed
14. Suspect l Darkmatter
15. Bleepin’ J Squawkins l The Downup Accent Slide [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
16. Cwerk l Phonezy [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
17. Ming One l Two Face [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
18. Nufe l Searbhag [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
19. Abel el Toro l You, You, You [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
20. Marcus Newman l Weekend on Europa [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
21. Acidalius l Acidemocracy [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
22. Sebastian Bayne l Zenomorph Blood [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
23. Speedloader l Blood of Jesus [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
24. dyLAB l Clan Acid A Log [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
25. Arcane Trickster l Order to Go [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
26. Mr Rachele l Clone [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
27. Pure Saboteur l Dynamique Quadratic Mix [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
28. Fate Æffect l Spry A4D3 [bonus track on Bandcamp only]

Album credits:
Executive Producer: Ryan Spinoglio
Design: James Wingrove
Mastering (tracks 1-14): Darren Ziesing
Label support: Nick Wilson

released in 2022

Melbourne singer/songwriter Dylan Beast unveils his new industrial electronic rock sound with the three-track single How Long out now on Australia’s Clan Analogue label.

Dylan Beast’s sonic style is influenced by electronic rock of the 1990s and 2000s melded with the edge of modern club music styles. His songwriting explores the mental struggles of modern life and the inherent tensions of today’s technologically-mediated existence. Following on from his independently released Black Patches album of 2020, Dylan moves further into electronica with this new release on Clan Analogue.

Buy album from Beatport

Through a mix of industrial music, funk guitar, experimental synths and rock vocals, “How Long” talks about the need for people to fake their emotional responses throughout their lives in order to survive the pressures of our society.

“How Long” is backed with two extra tracks which build the intensity further. Perth’s Times of the Sines remix “How Long” for a high energy dancefloor vibe, granulising and resynthesizing the vocals to convey heightened alienation.

The closer track “Still in Quarantine” was created using samples recorded by Dylan in his house during lockdown, capturing the enforced introspection produced during mental and physical confinement.

Track Listing
1. How Long
2. How Long (Times of the Sines Remix)
3. Still in Quarantine

Vocals, guitars, sampling and songwriting by Dylan Scutti
Produced by Nick Wilson
Mastering by Tom Glover
Design by Megan Sanelli
Mixing on tracks 1 & 3 by Fred Schilling and Matthew Boyd
Track 2 produced by Jason Fewings
Vocal recording and production by Hamish Muir, Fred Schilling and Matthew Boyd.
Programming on track 1 by Thomas Copeland and Mohit Rao

Originally released in 2022

A statement from Clan Analogue regarding recently decrypted data

On July 25^th 2021, Clan Analogue were contacted by an anonymous source asking for assistance in decrypting a unique dataset. The source and their backers were seemingly unable to decrypt it themselves, so came to Clan Analogue for our expertise in both data and music. They were seeking music technicians.

Despite their scepticism, our IT team agreed to look into it, assembling an entirely-airgapped rack server constrained within a Faraday cage to safely examine the data without risk of wider network contamination.

The patterns that emerged did indeed match those of audio encoding frameworks, albeit an ultra-high resolution quantum audio format that we haven’t yet encountered. Furthermore, certain recurring temporal patterning indicated a correlation with music.

At this point, our source stopped communicating, leaving us with a warning that the data could be dangerous. “Yeah, it was pretty weird,” says Clan Analogue Label Manager Nick Wilson. “Possibly they were in fear of some kind of retribution. But we realised this was potentially interesting music. We just needed help to turn it into something we could hear.”

A team of Clan Analogue’s most adaptable and innovative artists were handpicked for the decryption effort. Their mission – to reconstruct these waveforms within the perceivable part of the audible frequency spectrum. These select artists were Chamberz, Tim Marcus Moore, Kable54, Reductionist and GJ Hannah. Each was given a discrete portion of the data to reconstruct as best they could.

Clan Analogue’s IT Manager Duncan Robertson tells us: “The team and I haven’t yet been able to completely decode the data… however we’ve partially decrypted it into quite a listenable format. I think of it as a four-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, extremely detailed but perhaps impossible to completely solve. If you squint your eyes, it’s actually quite beautiful.”

One other potentially significant piece of information emerged from the decryption process. Initially discarded as noise, it was realised that a piece of corrupt tri-code was actually some kind of metadata stamping algorithm. After applying several Fourier transform equations, the name Future Security Agency became apparent, along with an image. Possibly this is a key to the data’s original source.

In the interests of transparency, Clan Analogue have elected to make these Partial Decryptions available to our listeners via our Bandcamp page. We are sure you will join us in thanking Chamberz, Tim Marcus Moore, Kable54, Reductionist and GJ Hannah in their unparalleled efforts to make this audio perceivable to you.

Please note that we have been warned of potential danger arising from this data. Proceed at your own risk.

Many questions, however, remain:

• What does ‘Future Security Agency’ mean?
• Could the data ever be completely decoded into its purest form?
• Why did the source disappear and warn of danger? 
• Who or what created the original data, and why?

If you have information to offer, please contact us urgently.

Update: after further testing we have made this audio available through additional streaming and download channels.

Decryption List:
Decryption 1: tūūvv t l reconstructed by Chamberz
Decryption 2: ganrdo l reconstructed by Tim Marcus Moore
Decryption 3: lifea new l reconstructed by Kable54
Decryption 4: head rigdt l reconstructed by Reductionist
Decryption 5: blonli08i1 l reconstructed by GJ Hannah

Ming One’s dopamine-inspired Techno EP Addiction!

From 1990s teenage record store junkie to regular DJ at warehouse parties and clubs, Ming One has been a dedicated stalwart of Melbourne’s techno scene over the last two decades. After contributions to the recent Analogue Redux and Mobile Strategies compilations, Ming One has now produced his first artist release on the Clan Analogue label – the Addiction EP.

With six tracks and three remixes, Addiction celebrates all things techno – a musical style which has provided constant inspiration to artists throughout Clan Analogue’s history as Australia’s most legendary electronic music collective. Ming One unleashes his addictive personality on the styles heard pounding from Melbourne soundsystems over the years in a beat-driven journey across the techno soundscape.

Buy album from Beatport

Addiction opens with the melodic and EDM-inspired “Out of CPU”, merging into a progressive techno remix by Ollie Lee, another illustrious presence in Melbourne’s techno scene. “Segment” gives us stripped-back minimal techno before Addiction moves into techno breakbeat with “Aesia Break”. “Transition” explores a tech-trance direction, then “The Bells” takes us into the terrain of IDM-influenced sound. Perth’s Times of the Sines provides an electro breakbeat remix while “Galaga” is an acid techno monster, upping the adrenaline as the EP moves to a climax and concludes with a frenetic glitch-inspired remix by Melbourne breakcore hacker Aday.

Addiction has been forged in the fires of Melbourne techno. Bring on the rave wherever and whenever you party. Enjoy the sounds of Addiction.

Buy CD direct from Clan Analogue:

Addiction is available from Clan Analogue in streaming, download and limited edition CD formats.

Buy from iTunes

Track Listing
1. Out of CPU
2. Out of CPU (Ollie Lee’s DSP UpMix)
3. Segment
4. Aesia Break
5. Transition
6. The Bells
7. The Bells (Times of the Sines Remix)
8. Galaga
9. Segment (Aday Remix)

Originally released in 2021

The expanse, the microcosm, consciousness, time…

Drones can represent those aspects of existence that seem too large or abstract to fully comprehend. Drone music gives a sense of both stasis and evolution. It provides a space for contemplation, enables a moment of oneness with the universe.

Over the last year Clan Analogue’s artists have looked within to find renewed sonic purpose. The result is Distance: Sounds for an Empty Space: ten drone compositions blending noise and meditation in equal measure.

Each artist provides their own unique sounds for an empty space. Sectoral’s epic modular synth perambulation is an inner journey through imagined empty streets in our cities.  iubar project explores empathy with harsh ambience; Jennifer Lea’s contribution is a sonic blanket in a field. Nicole Skeltys creates a soundscape to accompany a monologue for a dying financial system. Michael Mildren builds on the epic synth drones of early 70s German electronic pioneers.

The sounds explored on Distance range from field recordings, to analogue synthesizers, ipad digitisation to modded antique computer soundcards.

City Frequencies sample and rework the noises cluttering cities in frequency ranges beyond our hearing. Zogam experiments with time-stretched guitar drones while WiLL-i-ROMS rewires the soundcards from early 80s arcade games to improvise layers of digital noise. Kazumichi Grime allows unconstrained pure oscillator tones and white noise hisses to build up into a wall of distortion and conflicting harmonics.

Download album from Juno Download

All the Clan Analogue artists contributing to Distance were encouraged to work free of any constraints of time or format. The result is the legendary Australian electronic music collective’s most abstract and expansive music yet.

Buy from iTunes

Distance will be available on all major music streaming platforms. A limited edition cassette set with drone-friendly tape hiss is available now from Bandcamp. 

Track list:

1. figital l welcome to the future (part 1)
2. iubar project l Empathy in Action
3. Jennifer Lea l 13
4. Sectoral l Spooksteeg Brug
5. WiLL-i-ROMS l Boot Carpet
6. City Frequencies l The Interests of Entities
7. Nicole Skeltys and Bill Garrett l Old School
8. Zogam l Artisanal Hand Sanitiser
9. Kazumichi Grime l Trinity
10. Michael Mildren l Process Four

Clan Analogue presents Mobile Strategies: Battery-Powered Sonics

Clan Analogue’s new compilation album Mobile Strategies: Battery-Powered Sonics is a survey of international mobile music making. Whether using cheap portable synths, boutique miniature noise-making gadgets or apps on the phone or tablet, making mobile electronic music is expanding the possibilities of music creation and performance, turning the train ride into a production session, turning the local park into a studio.

Download album from Juno Download

Mobile Strategies includes contributions from music producers located on 3 continents and using a broad-range of mobile setups. The album’s 19 tracks include contributions from Tame Impala’s drummer Barbagallo, Germany’s prominent mobile music proponent Perplex On and the Melbourne-based KOshowKO who has pioneered venue-specific live audience sampling with the use of iPads.

A growing trend among the community of music producers is a return to the tactile experience of music creation tools and a focus on hardware that reduces the reliance on desktop systems. The different feel of mobile technologies impact upon the way producers choose to engage with particular formats. Portable technologies empower producers to redefine their methods of music creation in the contemporary digital space.

The mobile technologies used on the album range from the vintage TB 303, TR 606 and Casio SK-1 instruments used by Australian electronic act Rantzen & Spinoglio, through to a Gameboy Micro running custom software used by chr15m + Fenris to the latest invention by Teenage Engineering, their OP-Z sequencer, utilised by Perplex On in a nature-inspired, glitchy and bass heavy track produced during a hike in the Bavarian countryside.

Buy from iTunes

The album is available on all major music streaming platforms. There is also a special Bandcamp edition of the album, featuring a digital booklet detailing used equipment as well as the creative process behind each track. Customers who purchase the album on Bandcamp will also access a special folder with 6 bonus tracks not available elsewhere.

Mobile Strategies Executive Producer Martin Koszolko explains “Why a Mobile Music album?“

Track list:

1. Barbagallo l Trek6
2. KOshowKO l Neaty + Tidy
3. Starpause l Curious Crochet
4. Perplex On l First Warm Sunbeams
5. Decorate With Skulls l Tides
6. Ming One l Protégé Four
7. chr15m & fenris l Yeah
8. Damiano l London City
9. 477 l Shytcunstepator
10. Лучи Мечты l Oculist Conspiracy
11. Grey Nest l JVOIGT
12. maN Oeuvre l Her BastarD
13. Rantzen & Spinoglio l Sniffer Dogs
14. theultravisitor l Am That
15. BLEO l Full-Featured
16. Yoshima Petrosyan l Nonza
17. Planet Nowhere l Elevator Woman
18. Aday l Pressures Touch
19. Globotom l Es ist zu spät
20. Alex J Wise l Place of No Time [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
21. Mono Tono l Night in Sirolo (Personal Itaka) [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
22. Jeff Henry l Another Bedtime Story [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
23. Pantsofdeath l Ophendid [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
24. The Tuesday Night Machines l Butterbrot [bonus track on Bandcamp only]
25. Tristan Burfield l Pole Position [bonus track on Bandcamp only]